Chapter I: Front Matter

THE WORKS OF
Charles G. D. Roberts

Red Fox $2.00
The Watchers of the Trails 2.00
The Kindred of the Wild 2.00
Cameron of Lochiel (from the French of Gaspé) 1.50
The Prisoner of Mademoiselle 1.50
Earth’s Enigmas 1.50
The Heart of the Ancient Wood 1.50
Barbara Ladd 1.50
The Forge in the Forest 1.50
A Sister to Evangeline 1.50
By the Marshes of Minas 1.50
Complete Poems 1.50
The Book of the Rose cloth, _net_ 1.00
limp leather, _net_ 1.50
Songs of the Common Day (_Out of print_) 1.00
In Divers Tones (_Out of print_) 1.00
The Book of the Native 1.00
New York Nocturnes 1.00
A History of Canada _net_ 2.00

PUBLISHED BY
L. C. Page & Company
Boston, Mass.

“Red Fox, meanwhile, had been watching the whole scene from that safe
little ledge of rock.”
(_See page 168_)

RED FOX

_The Story of His Adventurous Career in the Ringwaak Wilds and of His
Final Triumph over the Enemies of His Kind_

Told by
Charles G. D. Roberts
_Author of_ “_The Kindred of the Wild_,” “_The Watchers of the Trails_,”
“_The Heart of the Ancient Wood_,” “_Barbara Ladd_,” “_Poems_,” _etc._

With Many Illustrations by
Charles Livingston Bull

L. C. PAGE & COMPANY
BOSTON • • • MDCCCCV

_Copyright, 1905, by_ The Outing Publishing Company
_Copyright, 1905, by_ The Outlook Company
_Copyright, 1905, by_ L. C. Page & Company (INCORPORATED)
_All rights reserved_

Published, September, 1905
_COLONIAL PRESS_
_Electrotyped and Printed by C. H. Simonds & Co._
_Boston, U.S.A._

To
Henry Braithwaite
Master of Woodcraft

Prefatory Note

In the following story I have tried to trace the career of a fox of the backwoods districts of Eastern Canada. The hero of the story, Red Fox, may be taken as fairly typical, both in his characteristics and in the experiences that befall him, in spite of the fact that he is stronger and cleverer than the average run of foxes. This fact does not detract from his authenticity as a type of his kind. He simply represents the best, in physical and mental development, of which the tribe of the foxes has shown itself capable. In a litter of young foxes there is usually one that is larger and stronger, and of more finely coloured fur, than his fellows. There is not infrequently, also, one that proves to be much more sagacious and adaptable than his fellows. Once in awhile such exceptional strength and such exceptional intelligence may be combined in one individual. This combination is apt to result in just such a fox as I have made the hero of my story.

The incidents in the career of this particular fox are not only consistent with the known characteristics and capacities of the fox family, but there is authentic record of them all in the accounts of careful observers. Every one of these experiences has befallen some red fox in the past, and may befall other red foxes in the future. There is no instance of intelligence, adaptability, or foresight given here that is not abundantly attested by the observations of persons who know how to observe accurately. In regard to such points, I have been careful to keep well within the boundaries of fact. As for any emotions which Red Fox may once in a great while seem to display, these may safely be accepted by the most cautious as fox emotions, not as human emotions. In so far as man is himself an animal, he is subject to and impelled by many emotions which he must share with not a few other members of the animal kingdom. Any full presentation of an individual animal of one of the more highly developed species must depict certain emotions not altogether unlike those which a human being might experience under like conditions. To do this is not by any means, as some hasty critics would have it, to ascribe human emotions to the lower animals.

C. G. D. R.

Fredericton, N. B., _August, 1905_.

Contents of the Book

CHAPTER PAGE
Prefatory Note vii
I. “The Price of His Life” 1
II. The Lessons of the Wild 22
III. Black Marks and Birchings 45
IV. Alone in the World 64
V. Mating and Mastery 85
VI. Burning Spur and Blinding Claw 101
VII. The Foiling of the Traps 116
VIII. Some Little People of the Snow 139
IX. The Fooling of the Mongrels 162
X. The Presumption of Black Mink 184
XI. A Royal Marauder 200
XII. A Winged Invasion 217
XIII. The Yellow Thirst 232
XIV. The Red Scourge of the Forest 251
XV. The Worrying of Red Buck 271
XVI. In the Hands of the Enemy 285
XVII. Under Alien Skies 306
XVIII. The Bell-mouthed Pack 319
XIX. Triumph 331

A List of the Full-Page Drawings in the Book

PAGE
“Red Fox, meanwhile, had been watching the whole scene from that
safe little ledge of rock” (_See page 168_) _Frontispiece_
“For a little distance the fox followed its channel” 5
“The fox stepped out upon the stones” 11
“Slower and slower he went” 19
“Night after night . . . the high shrill barking of a she fox was
heard” 23
“The puppy flung himself upon it without a sign of fear” 31
“He ran up the nearest tree” 39
“Learned to steal up and catch the brooding partridge” 43
“He crouched, tense with anticipation” 49
“Red Fox, sitting solitary on his knoll, heard the noise of the
chase” 57
“They all three turned and glanced back” 67
“Glaring eyes, long tail fluffed out, and high-arched back” 73
“He became panic-stricken, and fell to a violent kicking and
struggling” 81
“One surly old woodchuck . . . went so far as to establish himself
in the door of the burrow” 91
“Creeping with indescribable stealth around the roots of a huge
beech-tree” 97
“Delivered another of those daunting spur strokes” 107
“The owl swooped, and struck” 111
“She revealed a small, dark, menacing thing” 119
“In the trap a mink was held, caught by both front feet” 127
“He dug his powerful claws into the snow” 133
“Red Fox rose lightly on his hind legs, . . . and pulled it down” 141
“He caught sight of a big cock partridge” 151
“Much chagrined, he gazed after her” 159
“He amused himself for a minute or two with wild, fantastic leaps
from trunk to trunk” 169
“It slipped swiftly off with its exhausted passenger” 181
“He had just missed catching the rabbit at his first rush” 187
“At last he, too, crouched flat, eying his foe with keen curiosity” 191
“Helped himself to the rabbit” 195
“The crow-haunted fir-groves on its flanks” 201
“The eagle, with the prize dangling from his claws, was already far
out of reach” 207
“In an instant Red Fox was upon him again” 213
“A dark cluster began to form” 221
“Nearer and nearer came the whirling cloud” 227
“He saw a big raccoon go running by” 233
“Settled himself down by the hole to watch for the woodchuck to
come out” 241
“The little maniac clung to the big beast’s tender snout” 245
“A doe and two fawns . . . went bounding past” 253
“The diminished family sped on” 259
“Himself kept watch where he could see everything” 265
“Red Fox was enjoying a good stretch” 273
“Moved away grandly about his business” 277
“Resumed his flight through the trunks and rampikes” 281
“Stiffening himself on the instant” 287
“A shadowy shape came flitting soundlessly around the corner of the
hen-house” 301
“Behind a massive clump of rhododendrons” 317
“The centre of the most difficult patch of swamp” 321
“On a fallen sapling he crossed the brook” 327
“Came tumbling over the wall into the lane” 333
“He came out upon a jutting cape of rock” 337

Red Fox